A blue-haired woman bloomed out of nowhere like a splash of cold dye, making Ling Xuewei flinch; that familiar face hit like a ghost, and she thought of that madwoman at once. Whether she was or not, it didn’t stop Xuewei from throwing a kick, as she set the little girl down like a sapling and pulled her behind.

“Who the hell are you!” My shock rose like a moonlit wave. Why does she look so much like Dreamsound?

The blue-haired stranger shared seven-tenths of Dreamsound’s features, body and face both familiar as a melody under lantern light. But I felt none of Dreamsound’s breath on her, so I figured she wasn’t kin.

Xuewei’s kick passed straight through, like plunging a foot into a pond and rippling the moon.

“Stop yelling; we need to run! I can’t beat her!” Xuewei’s voice snapped like frost in the air.

Helplessness washed me like cold rain. But you’re holding me—how am I supposed to run…

Xuewei felt the hunt in the woman’s gaze, a hawk fixed on Tangxue; she had to take me and leave.

“Wrong answer~” The blue-haired woman smiled like a crescent and appeared right in front of Xuewei. “My target… is you.”

Her mouth tilted like a blade; she caught Xuewei’s chin and kissed her, sparks striking flint right before my eyes.

Shock boomed like thunder; both Xuewei and I went blank, stunned.

Xuewei stared wide-eyed, mind swimming like mist; her soft tongue fell into the other’s rhythm, all control swept away. Worse, the girl’s hands began to wander like restless fish.

Rage surged through me like wildfire. “Are you insane! This bastard—kissing my sister right in front of me!”

I drew an ice sword, winter biting my palm, and lunged for her kidney.

Not by choice—my height only reached that spot, humor popping like a bubble.

But then again, my blade slid through like a wave passing silk.

Water element… the word crashed over me like a tide.

She saw my clenched-teeth fury and winked, a cat teasing a fish under lamplight.

She thinks I won’t use water in front of Xuewei… Lightning snapped in my head. Got it!

I jabbed two fingers into both sides of Xuewei’s waist, a sharp gust against soft snow.

“Mm~” The odd sting snapped her awake like a chill drizzle; she glared at the girl, shoved her head away, and cried, “Iceflame Spear!”

The woman was wary of the Iceflame Spear; she didn’t clash head-on. She skipped left and right like a water strider, dodging the frosty flame, and Xuewei’s strikes cut nothing but air.

“Don’t be so violent…” The girl sent Xuewei a plaintive look. “Let me sing you a song~”

“Da~ da-da~ da-da…” Her voice flowed like spring water through stones, a magic thread in the air, and Xuewei’s raging heart cooled like snow settling on pine.

“Damn it, Xuewei! Cover your ears!” Panic hammered like drums in my chest.

“Too late.” The words fell like a blade already mid-swing.

The light drained from Xuewei’s pupils; she floated there, asleep like a feather caught on wind.

Her mental power is that high… even Xuewei got caught, a silk net tightening in silence.

“You bastard… did your dear mom die young or what? You only do graveyard tricks!” Cold anger hissed like tomb wind.

I dropped the child act; a storm of iron beat in my fists—I wanted to thrash her.

“Rest easy on that… my mother is quite alive.” She met my curses with a light smile, like drizzle that never sinks in.

As if! My retort snapped like a fox’s snarl in brush.

While I blinked, she flickered before us like a shadow at dusk and pressed a kiss to my lips, petal-soft and quick.

It was only a brush, like a dragonfly touching water before it rises.

She didn’t indulge like before; restraint coiled like a tether at her wrist.

Then she tapped a few spots on me, light as raindrops on a reed.

At once, a thin current rippled through me like lightning in water; a soft sound slipped out, my body betraying me like a flute under wind.

“Look at you—so clueless you’ll get tricked into bed and never notice.” Her voice was iron that refused to forge. “Here’s a warning: don’t come to the demon lands for a while, unless you want the worst to happen.”

Confusion fogged my chest like mist over a lake. “What are you even saying… Strange, my vision’s blurring…”

I feel like… I’m being sealed in a water bubble, a glass sphere closing like a tide.

“No way—again!” My protest broke like a wave on rock.

A flash of white, and Qingsheng Tangxue’s figure dissolved like foam in the air.

“Brother!!” Waking to that, Ling Xuewei’s eyes went red like embers; she charged the woman like a storm, ready to tear her to shreds.

The blue-haired girl only smiled and shook her head, treating Xuewei’s fury like a breeze sliding past bamboo.

Her gaze tightened, and invisible mind-force pinned Xuewei in place, dropping her restless heart back into that blank, sage calm.

“Oh my~ what’s wrong with letting me steal a little advantage once? Actually… I let you see that on purpose, hee-hee. If you miss my tongue-work, bring that little one back~” Her laugh purred like a cat under moonlight.

No matter what she said, Xuewei stayed locked in that forced calm, unable to spark even a coal of hate.

The blue-haired girl sent Xuewei a playful smile and snapped her fingers, crisp as ice.

“Sleep well…” The words fell like a lullaby wind.

“Time to deal with that little punk…” She stretched like a lazy cat. “Mm~ brats only behave after a good beating…”

“Your Majesty!” Kalleya hurried to Jiuqi’s side like wind through tall grass. By the time she arrived, Jiuqi had burst the water bubble herself; no major wounds, but her face was sour, like a scolded brat after rain.

“I’m fine, Kalleya. That bubble… she made it so I wouldn’t crash, a cloud to catch me.”

“Your Majesty… who dares harm you? I swear on my life, I’ll take their head.” Her vow sliced like frost wind.

“No need, Kalleya. Even together, we can’t beat that woman.” Jiuqi’s childlike lilt carried defeat like dusk on a hill; that woman had cowed her, and resistance wouldn’t rise.

In strength and spirit, Jiuqi’s defenses shattered like thin ice under a heel.

That damned woman even knew her childhood black history, clear as moon on water… She mustn’t meet Kalleya. If Kalleya heard those old shames, the Demon Lord’s dignity would sink lower still.

Though, to be honest, it wasn’t much to begin with, thin as morning mist.